Apr 19, 2024  
2020-2021 Academic Catalog 
    
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2020-2021 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Course Descriptions

Course Numbering System

The following lists include all courses normally offered at Albion College. However, not all courses are offered every year. When possible, courses offered in alternate years are designated. For details, students should consult the Class Schedule for each semester, available online at: www.albion.edu/registrar. The College reserves the right to add or withdraw courses without prior announcement, as conditions may require.

Unless otherwise stated, 100 level courses are intended for freshmen, 200 level for sophomores, 300 and 400 level for juniors and seniors.

A list of courses which meet the core and category requirements, organized by departments, is available online at www.albion.edu/registrar.

Further information may be obtained at the Registrar’s Office in the Ferguson Student, Technology, and Administrative Services Building.
 

Psychological Science
  

  • PSYC 101: Introduction to Psychology

    (1 Unit)
    Covers the principal areas of psychology. Participation in faculty-supervised experiments required of students age 18 and over. Psychology 101 is a prerequisite for all other psychology courses. Staff.
  

  • PSYC 187: Selected Topics

    (1/4 Unit)
    An examination of subjects or areas not included in other courses. Staff.
  

  • PSYC 188: Selected Topics

    (1/2 Unit)
    An examination of subjects or areas not included in other courses. Staff.
  

  • PSYC 189: Selected Topics

    (1 Unit)
    An examination of subjects or areas not included in other courses. Staff.
  

  • PSYC 204: Research Methods and Statistics I

    (1 Unit)
    Prerequisites: PSYC 101  with a grade of 2.0 or higher and a 200-level lecture-based course, or permission of instructor.
    An introduction to the theory and practice of research methods in psychology with an emphasis on descriptive designs. Focuses on naturalistic, archival, and survey methodology with discussion of descriptive statistics, probability, Chi-square, z-scores, correlation, and multiple regression. Lecture and laboratory. Course normally taken during second year. Christopher, Elischberger, Francis, Hill, Jechura, Wieth, Staff.
  

  • PSYC 210: Educational Psychology

    (1 Unit)
    Prerequisite: PSYC 101  or Education 101.
    Educational psychologists develop and apply theories of teaching, learning, and human development to determine the most effective ways for educators to teach students. Ideas about human learning and development impact many teaching activities, including lesson planning, structuring exercises, and diagnosing learning difficulties. Students will discuss how educational psychologists have studied and contributed to educational approaches worldwide including instructional design, educational technology, curriculum development for different content areas, classroom organizational learning, special education and classroom management. This course advances students’ understanding of what constitutes typical learning and development, and the mechanisms that influence learning in educational settings across the globe. Francis.
  

  • PSYC 230: Health Psychology

    (1 Unit)
    Prerequisites: PSYC 101 , or permission of instructor.
    The role of behavior in the prevention of disease and in the enhancement of health. Looks at behavior in relation to stress, pain, cardiovascular disease, cancer, alcohol abuse, weight control, psychoneuroimmunology. Contrasts biomedical and biopsychosocial approaches to health and disease. Jechura.
  

  • PSYC 236: Social Psychology

    (1 Unit)
    Prerequisite: PSYC 101 .
    The scientific study of the ways people think, feel and behave in social situations. Topics include self-perception and self-presentation, person perception, stereo-typing and prejudice, interpersonal attraction and close relationships, altruism, aggression, attitudes and persuasion, conformity, and group processes. Also examines theory and research in several applied areas of social psychology, including law and health. Hill, Staff.
  

  • PSYC 241: Neuroscience I: Brain Structure and Function

    (1 Unit)
    Prerequisite: PSYC 101 , or BIOL 195 , or permission of instructor.
    An introduction to brain structure and function. Emphasis on the way the nervous system is organized to process information, construct representations of the world and generate adaptive behavior. Lecture, discussion, dissection. Same as NEUR 241 . Jechura, Keyes, Schmitter, Wieth, Wilson.
  

  • PSYC 243: Psychology of Perception

    (1 Unit)
    Prerequisite: PSYC 101 .
    Operation of sensory systems and major principles of perception. Addresses the classical question, “Why do things look as they do?” Not offered every year. Wieth.
  

  • PSYC 245: Psychology of Learning

    (1 Unit)
    Prerequisite: PSYC 101 .
    A survey of major concepts and issues in conditioning, learning and memory processes. Emphasizes research dealing with the ways learning and memory interact with other variables such as development and species-typical behavior. Lecture and laboratory. Not offered every year. Wilson.
  

  • PSYC 247: Drugs, Brain, and Behavior

    (1 Unit)
    Prerequisite: PSYC 101 .
    This course is intended as an introduction to the study of drug use, abuse, and addiction, with a focus on recreationally-used drugs. Basic principles of pharmacology and neural transmission will be examined to better understand how drugs influence our brain and behavior. The impact of drug use on society, as well as intervention approaches, will be considered throughout the course. Wieth, Wilson
  

  • PSYC 251: Child and Adolescent Development

    (1 Unit)
    Prerequisite: PSYC 101 .
    Focuses on physical, cognitive, social and emotional development with emphasis on the periods of infancy, childhood and adolescence. Reviews methods for studying the developing person and major theoretical approaches. Elischberger, Francis, Keyes, Staff.
  

  • PSYC 254: Lifespan Development

    (1 Unit)
    Prerequisite: PSYC 101  
    Focuses on physical, cognitive, social and emotional development across the lifespan. Adopts an integrative and interdisciplinary approach to understanding the human experience from birth to death. Elischberger, Keyes, Staff.
  

  • PSYC 260: Psychology of Language

    (1 Unit)
    Prerequisite: PSYC 101 .
    Examines the relationship between the uniquely human cognitive capacity of language and other cognitive processes. Acquisition, comprehension, production, and utilization are studied with particular reference to structure and meaning. Not offered every year. Staff.
  

  • PSYC 265: Abnormal Psychology

    (1 Unit)
    Prerequisite: PSYC 101 .
    Reviews major theories of abnormal behavior as well as related techniques of diagnosis and therapy; considers various emotional/behavior problems (e.g., schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, eating disorders and depressions). Keyes, Staff.
  

  • PSYC 267: Psychology of Personality

    (1 Unit)
    Prerequisite: PSYC 101 .
    Examines the major theories of personality. Attention is given to the relevance of each personality theory to the students’ own personality development. Staff.
  

  • PSYC 287: Selected Topics

    (1/4 Unit)
    Prerequisite: PSYC 101 .
    An examination of subjects or areas not included in other courses. Staff.
  

  • PSYC 288: Selected Topics

    (1/2 Unit)
    Prerequisite: PSYC 101 .
    An examination of subjects or areas not included in other courses. Staff.
  

  • PSYC 289: Selected Topics

    (1 Unit)
    Prerequisite: PSYC 101 .
    An examination of subjects or areas not included in other courses. Staff.
  

  • PSYC 304: Psychological Assessment

    (1 Unit)
    Prerequisite: PSYC 204 .
    The principles of psychological assessment and the general process of clinical diagnosis. Deals with the construction, evaluation, administration and interpretation of widely-used measuring instruments. Offered in alternate years. Staff.
  

  • PSYC 306: Research Methods and Statistics II

    (1 Unit)
    Prerequisite: PSYC 204  with a grade of 2.0 or higher, or permission of instructor.
    Further exploration of the theory and practice of research methods in psychology with an emphasis on experimental designs. Focuses on both simple and complex designs with discussion of z-test, t-test, ANOVA (one-way, repeated measures and factorial), and MANOVA. Lecture and laboratory. Course normally taken during second year. Christopher, Elischberger, Hill, Jechura, Wieth, Staff.
  

  • PSYC 336: Research in Social Psychology

    (1 Unit)
    Prerequisites: PSYC 306  with a grade of 2.0 or higher, or permission of instructor.
    Focuses on either social cognitive processes or interpersonal relations. Guides the upper-division student through an intensive review of social psychological theory in either social cognition or interpersonal relations. Emphasizes how to assess and employ methodologies that affect explanations, interpretations, and applications of human social cognition and behavior. Laboratory work stresses the inextricable link between theory, methodology, and statistical analyses. Projects relating to one of these two areas closely parallel the process of professional research in social psychology. Christopher, Hill, Staff.
  

  • PSYC 346: Industrial and Organizational Psychology

    (1 Unit)
    Prerequisites: PSYC 101  or E&M 101  and PSYC 204  or E&M 200 , or permission of instructor.
    Focuses on personnel selection, evaluation and employee training and development. Emphasizes criterion development, motivation, job satisfaction, leadership and conflict resolution in industrial and organizational settings. Christopher, Staff.
  

  • PSYC 348: Research in Behavioral Neuroscience

    (1 Unit)
    Prerequisites: PSYC 306  with a grade of 2.0 or higher and PSYC 241 /NEUR 241 , or permission of instructor.
    Examines the methodology of behavioral neuroscience research. Focuses on a review of the major means by which brain/behavior relations can be determined (i.e., lesion, stimulation, and recording studies) as well as an examination of much that has been learned using these procedures. Laboratory work covers at least two of these procedures in detail: human electrophysiology and a lesion, stimulation, or drug experiment in animals. Jechura, Wilson.
  

  • PSYC 378: Research in Cognitive Psychology

    (1 Unit)
    Prerequisites: PSYC 306  with a grade of 2.0 or higher or permission of instructor.
    A review of recent studies of attention, memory, concept formation, problem solving and related areas. Focuses on the ability of humans to select, code, store, organize and retrieve information. Lecture and laboratory. Wieth.
  

  • PSYC 380: Introduction to Counseling

    (1 Unit)
    Prerequisites: PSYC 101 , PSYC 204 , PSYC 267 .
    A study of the major theories and current approaches to counseling and psychotherapy. Emphasizes important communication skills necessary in providing a helping relationship to another person. Opportunity is provided through videotape for students to learn and practice some of these basic skills. Staff.
  

  • PSYC 387: Selected Topics

    (1/4 Unit)
    Prerequisite: PSYC 101  or permission of instructor.
    An examination of subjects or areas not included in other courses. May be taken more than once for credit. Staff.
  

  • PSYC 388: Selected Topics

    (1/2 Unit)
    Prerequisite: PSYC 101  or permission of instructor.
    An examination of subjects or areas not included in other courses. May be taken more than once for credit. Staff.
  

  • PSYC 389: Selected Topics

    (1 Unit)
    Prerequisite: PSYC 101  or permission of instructor.
    An examination of subjects or areas not included in other courses. May be taken more than once for credit. Staff.
  

  • PSYC 395: Forensic Psychology

    (1 Unit)
    Prerequisites: PSYC 204 , PSYC 251  and PSYC 265 , or permission of instructor.
    Explores the psychology of criminal behavior, from causes through prevention or intervention and ending with punishment and rehabilitation. Provides an understanding of the criminal mind, based on knowledge of developmental and abnormal psychology. Staff.
  

  • PSYC 398: Practicum

    (1/2 Unit)
    Prerequisites: Permission of instructor and declared psychology major, human services concentration, or neuroscience concentration, junior or senior standing.
    Supervised experience in an applied setting and the opportunity to reflect upon and evaluate this experience in a weekly group meeting. May be repeated once. Offered on a credit/no credit basis. Keyes.
  

  • PSYC 399: Practicum

    (1 Unit)
    Prerequisites: Permission of instructor and declared psychology major, human services concentration, or neuroscience concentration, junior or senior standing.
    Supervised experience in an applied setting and the opportunity to reflect upon and evaluate this experience in a weekly group meeting. May be repeated once. Offered on a credit/no credit basis. Keyes.
  

  • PSYC 401: Seminar

    (1/2 Unit)
    Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing.
    The study of a specific problem area in the discipline. Examples of topics include Psychology of Women and Men, History of Psychology, Psychology and Law, and Culture and Cognition. Staff.
  

  • PSYC 402: Seminar

    (1 Unit)
    Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing.
    The study of a specific problem area in the discipline. Examples of topics include Psychology of Women and Men, History of Psychology, Psychology and Law, and Culture and Cognition. Staff.
  

  • PSYC 411: Directed Study

    (1/2 Unit)
    Highly recommended for majors. Admission is by permission of instructor. Staff.
  

  • PSYC 412: Directed Study

    (1 Unit)
    Highly recommended for majors. Admission is by permission of instructor. Staff.
  

  • PSYC 416: Senior Research Seminar

    (1 Unit)
    Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.
    Guides students completing a senior thesis through all aspects of the research process. Focuses on data analysis, interpretation and reporting on the results of student research projects. Considers both theoretical and practical research issues. Staff.